Explaining Lions coach Dan Campbell’s denied challenge vs. Rams

An odd coaching and officiating sequence happened in the first quarter of the Detroit Lions’ loss to the Los Angeles Rams. After the Rams completed a 23-yard pass all the way down the Lions’ 3-yard line, Detroit head coach Dan Campbell threw a challenge flag.

It was an odd choice, because there didn’t seem to be anything challengeable on the play. The FOX broadcast could only speculate what Campbell was challenging. But we eventually got a little clarity when the officials got on the microphone. They announced that the Lions wanted to challenge the spot of the football, but were not allowed to in that situation. So they were charged a timeout.

“The spot of the previous play is not reviewable. Detroit will be charged their first timeout,” the official said.

Campbell confirmed after the game that he wanted to change the spot of the ball.

“They said I cannot challenge that because it’s not line-to-gain,” Campbell said.

Let’s break it all down:

What were the Lions trying to challenge?

Colby Parkinson made the catch, and they marked him down at the 3-yard line. But the replay clearly shows that the Rams tight end’s knee was down just inside the 5-yard line with the ball around the 4-yard line.

And the Lions aren’t allowed to challenge the spot of the football? For real?

Why the play was not challengeable

That is the correct ruling, and it’s because of a nuance to challenging when it comes to reviewing the spot of the football. Obviously, teams are allowed to challenge the spot of the football, but only in two very specific situations. From the rulebook:

• Ball breaking the plane of the goal line. Whether any part of the ball broke the plane of the goal line while in player possession and before the ball should have been declared dead.
• ARTICLE 7. PLAYS GOVERNED BY THE LINE TO GAIN. The dead ball spot is reviewable to determine whether it was short of, at, or beyond the line to gain.

In short, teams are allowed to challenge the spot of the football—but only if they’re challenging in regards to a first down call or a touchdown call. You can challenge if a spot of the ball was or wasn’t a first down OR challenge whether it was or wasn’t a touchdown. You cannot challenge something that will just move the ball up or back a yard or two.

So in the Lions’ case, because Colby Parkinson clearly earned a first down and was clearly not in for a touchdown, there was nothing for Detroit to challenge, even if the original spot was a yard or two more than he earned.

The irony: the challenge kind of worked anyway

The irony of all of this is that replay officials DID END UP ADJUSTING THE SPOT ANYWAY, due to replay assistance from New York. The Rams’ next snap was taken at the 4-yard line after originally being spotted at the 3. If the Lions hadn’t thrown the challenge flag, the Rams were about to take a snap from the 3-yard line.

“I won the challenge, but I lost my timeout,” Campbell said.

Luckily, the loss of timeout didn’t really cost the Lions anything, but hopefully Campbell and company learned a lesson.